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Wednesday 11 May 2011

Italy: Ciao! Benvenuti a Roma! (Part I)

A journey back in time...
(that's why they're in black and white ;-))

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy
Il Colosseo (The Colosseum)

One of Rome's most distinctive landmarks, it is known properly as the Flavian Amphitheatre. This most famous of Roman landmarks takes its name from the giant statue of the emperor Nero that once stood near this location.

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy
The view of the underground area - the battleground arena - from the 1st floor of the Colosseum

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy
The corridor inside the Colosseum

Arch of Constantine, Rome, Italy
Arco di Costantino (Arch of Constantine)

Erected to commemorate Constantine's military victory over his rival Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD

Temple of Venus and Roma, Rome, Italy
Temple of Venus and Roma

The largest known temple in Ancient Rome. Located at the far east side of the Foro Romano (Roman Forum) near the Colosseum, it was dedicated to the "goddesses" Venus Felix (Venus the "Bringer of Good Fortune") and Roma Aeterna (Eternal Rome). Construction of the temple began in 121, officially inaugurated in 135, and finished in 141.



There'd be more to come later...



Further Information:

The old part of Rome is pretty compact and one can basically cover all of the major places of interests on foot - just make sure that you have comfortable walking shoes on you :-).

I have stayed at 3 different hotels while in Rome. The first hotel is Hotel Borromeo, which is located on Via Cavour, quite close to Colosseum and to Roma Termini (main train station) which provides easy access and direct rail link from Leonardo da Vinci airport (FCO). Quite a good hotel, good location in terms of access, comfortable bed and nice breakfast at the rooftop of the hotel.

(The other 2 hotels would be covered in the next write up)

For other www.RambleAndWander.com blog entries on Italy, click here.


12 comments:

Comments and feedback are always appreciated. So do leave one or two if you have the time. Thank you!

  1. Very2 beautiful! when did u go..?

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    1. Hi there Farikica :-)

      Yup, Rome is very beautiful if you like historical stuff :-) For this post, the photos came from my trip to Italy in Dec 2008. Have actually been back to Italy 2 more times since then, the last time being Oct/Nov 2011 :-)

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  2. Hi RaW. Baru balik from Italy. Roma and Venice. Went to colosseo and took the underground tour. Best! But personally Roma mcm too crowded. I love venice. More relax.

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    1. Hi there, Fida! Yup, Rome can be quite crowded in some places. The same with Venice but like you said, Venice has a more relaxed feeling about it. Both cities are expensive though, heheh!

      By the way, I saw that you have just came back from a trip to Europe - France, Holland, Belgium, Italy and the UK? It must have been one awesome trip! :-)

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  3. Eh I thought I ada commnt something.. mana pergi...

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    1. Eh? You mean you cannot see your previous comment above? Or did you leave another comment after that? I have only received 1 comment from you on this post before.

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  4. Ok just now I dah type banyak tapi tak tau kenapa tak appear. Takpe, I type balik.

    I just came back from holiday. 3 weeks plus minus. Still jet lag, so malam tadi I can't sleep, then terjumpa you ada blog pasal Italy. Hehe. You know macam your mind still there, bila baca ada org blog pasal Italy, I macam excited. :) so many memories to recap and thoughts to entertain.

    Hmm, memang both cities are expensive. I even kena change my pound to euro kat Venice. Hehehe.. Have you tried pizza and spaghetti tak kat sana. So so good. I love people watching. Kat Piazza d Spagna pun too crowded. It was raining that day tapi still punya lah ramai org.

    So far kan, I love Scotland the most. Oh god, cantik sgt Edinburgh, Inverness, Loch Ness.. The landscape so lovely. Cantik :)

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    1. Wow! 3 weeks! That's nice! Did you use a rail pass or did you use the LCCs for your travel? How many of you were travelling together?

      I found Venice to be more expensive than Rome. Luckily I found a cheap room just around the corner from St. Marco Sq. in Venice. Pizza & spaghetti? Tell me about it. I think I went for spaghetti almost every other day when I was there, haha! But for these "delicacies", we need to find the places where the locals go to, rather than where most tourists flock to. I can't really appreciate Spanish Steps actually. It's like people go there to watch people to watch people, if you know what I mean, haha! I prefer to watch people who don't watch me back ;-)

      Oh yes! I LOVE the landscape in Scotland! I studied in Edinburgh many years ago and simply fell in love with the country (landscape, culture, people, their accent, etc.) Would definitely love to go back there again some time in the future!

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  5. You, sorry I missed your reply.

    Hmm, we were travelling by bus and also plane. 3 orang semuanya. And all girls :)

    So kat Venice, we stayed in Mestre. 20 minutes rasanya from Mestre train station to Santa Lucia train station. Nak stay dekat St Marco tu, tp too expensive! I changed my pound to euro kat Santa Lucia. Hehe..

    So since you've tried pizza and spaghetti there, kat mana yang the most delicious? I suka pizza kat venice sambil makan, and people watching. Bestt.. goshh loved it!

    "I prefer to watch people who don't watch me back ;-)"

    Sooo, can you tell me where can I do that? hehe.. Spagna mmg tak boleh. too crowded. Even trevi fountain coin toss pun nak boleh sampai ke depan, mmg susah. Hehe.. but I managed to go there. It was raining that day. So melancholy.

    Ohhh, so you've stayed in Edin before. Lucky you. How I wish I could stay there.. Cantik sgt la Edin. Scottish accent so sexy! hehe.. Sukaa sgt dgr they all ckp. Sedap.

    I ambil tour from Edin to Inverness. The view all the way from Fort William to Loch Ness, Ya Allah so beautiful.. Tak tahu nak describe mcm mana. Sgt cantik. Mmg Scotland my personal fav :)

    Sorry terpanjang pulak, hehe sebab I kat office tgh relax kejap..

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    1. Waah! That's quite far if you had to travel about 20 mins by train to St. Lucia. I'm not sure how I got the cheap room but it was on the 4th floor and I had to lug my big and heavy luggage all the way up using the very narrow staircase, haha!

      Re: where to eat; I won't be able to tell you where, hehe. Usually I'd just ask a local, either at the hotel reception or a shopkeeper where they would recommend if we want to eat a certain type of dish. These places are usually nice little quaint restaurants in the back alleys but they are always full with Italians.

      Re: Where to sit and watch people; nowhere, haha! May be in the Square at the end of Via del Corso?

      Yup, Edinburgh is a very beautiful city. Did you go to Ben Nevis? The valley area behind the mountain, i.e. Glen Nevis, is beautiful too, complete with a small river running through it. I love Scottish accent, although the first time I was there, I actually had problems understanding them talking, haha!

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  6. One thing I noticed, most of the budget hotels in Europe, they had no lift and the stairs are notoriously steep, narrow, uneven etc. Haha. Usually the staff of the hotel tlg I angkat my trolley bags. hehe..

    I see. Just ask around.. Dekat Piazza San Marco, you masuk tak the basilica? the line was toooo long! I tak dpt masuk. Did u climb the Campanile (Bell Tower?) hehe... I was so busy playing with the pigeons! Byk sgt.. Best. And habiskan masa kejap kat HRC.

    Venice ni mcm maze kan. Senang sesat. Tp you can always ask people there. I think if you go quite far down until the crowds thin, maybe kat sini food dia sedap kot. And cheaper ;p haha.

    Jumpa tak hidden church, Chiesa dei Frari? Soo big.

    I went to Ben Nevis. Cantik sgt! Hmmmm... So lovely and beautiful. Hmm, I tak faham sgt apa yg tour guide tu ckp hihi... But then I just dgr je.. hehehe :)

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    1. Haah, that's true. That's why I usually like to stay in a chain hotel. At least I know what to expect. But at the same time I realise I might lose out the opportunity to experience some cool independent hotels.

      No, I didn't go inside the Basilica, nor did I climb the tower (tower was closed at the time of my visit). I spent more time exploring the city as well as going to 2 other islands. I had my dinner at HRC on my first night there because it was already too late at night when I arrived there from Milan.

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